Sports Beat: 150 seconds of euphoria and despair

Published: Monday, June 2, 2014 at 08:06 PM.

Some have come late to the party for California Chrome and noticed empty champagne bottles already scattered along some parts of the floor.

Saturday will determine if it’s going to become a full-fledged bash, with a little bit of St. Patrick’s Day and graduation night thrown in for true horse players.

The rest of us are along for the ride, so to speak, but thus far the West Coast colt hasn’t disappointed. Neither have his owners and trainer who are an even a longer shot of being in this position than their entry to win a Triple Crown on Saturday at Belmont.

Will California Chrome become the first winner of horse racing’s exalted trifecta since Affirmed in 1978? History tells us no. That the majority of the expected field of nine hasn’t even been challenged by running all three races in five weeks is further testament to why only about a dozen 3-year-olds have pulled off the accomplishment.

Our hearts tell us yes. Our heads aren’t so convinced.

But you can be assured most of us will watch; even those without a pari-mutuel wager or a few bucks tossed into an office or barroom pool.

Some have come late to the party for California Chrome and noticed empty champagne bottles already scattered along some parts of the floor.

Saturday will determine if it’s going to become a full-fledged bash, with a little bit of St. Patrick’s Day and graduation night thrown in for true horse players.

The rest of us are along for the ride, so to speak, but thus far the West Coast colt hasn’t disappointed. Neither have his owners and trainer who are an even a longer shot of being in this position than their entry to win a Triple Crown on Saturday at Belmont.

Will California Chrome become the first winner of horse racing’s exalted trifecta since Affirmed in 1978? History tells us no. That the majority of the expected field of nine hasn’t even been challenged by running all three races in five weeks is further testament to why only about a dozen 3-year-olds have pulled off the accomplishment.

Our hearts tell us yes. Our heads aren’t so convinced.

But you can be assured most of us will watch; even those without a pari-mutuel wager or a few bucks tossed into an office or barroom pool.

Yeah. We’ll watch.

The Belmont is a 1½-mile endurance test littered with the shattered commitment to past promise. It’s a tease in a fantasy land most of us enter only through the intrusion of television, and hang on the pre-race words and predictions of broadcasters we won’t see or hear from for another 47 weeks.

This particular story, given the modest backgrounds of the partners who were denigrated when they purchased part of the bloodline for California Chrome, is richer than the melodramas of the recent past with Smarty Jones and Big Brown, to name a few who were denied a legacy by the Belmont’s cruel dimensions.

The entourage bringing California Chrome to New York City already has provided an emotional journey in a sport where sentiment alone won’t get you to the paddock much less the starting gate.

California Chrome undoubtedly will go off as the favorite on Saturday, not only for what he’s accomplished during six consecutive wins, but from the addictive plasma so many bystanders inject. It’s as if their $2 win ticket somehow can propel this colt to the finish line, and then posterity.

We’ll probably be caught short again in that regard. Only two favorites have won the Belmont since 2000, and of course neither was in line for the ultimate glory.

Should the latest colt to challenge for succession come through, the payoff likely will be as meager as the Preakness, where the trifecta box returned only $38. Should California Chrome finish second, third or worse, the return is sure to be much more lucrative.

But what other sporting event can provide instant drama, euphoria and despair in the span of about 2½ minutes.

The aftermath either will be punctuated by the cumulative explosion of corks, or lead us back to reality via the bread crumbs of losing pari-mutuel tickets and misplaced passion.

It’s quite a spectacle, when you stop and think.Little people, large animals and great expectations.